Geneva doctor's license suspended amid sexual misconduct charges

GENEVA – A Geneva doctor's license has been temporarily suspended by state regulators, who allege that he had inappropriate sexual relations with several patients and that his "actions constitute an immediate danger to the public."

The license of Dr. Mark G. Lewis was suspended by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on June 26, records show, alleging he engaged in "sexually inappropriate conduct with multiple patients of his practice, as well as inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances to numerous individuals."

According to the regulatory agency, both his physician and surgeon license and controlled substance license were suspended, pending a hearing July 9 before an administrative law judge and the Medical Disciplinary Board.

A message left with his answering service was not returned.

According to the charges, a patient admitted that she engaged in a sexual relationship with Lewis while he continued to provide care and treatment for her. Lewis admitted to a state investigator to having a sexual relationship with a former patient in his practice – and then hired her to work in his office, American Family Doctor, 2197 Blackberry Drive, Geneva – while he continued to prescribe controlled substance medications for her, according to the charges.

A review of the patient/employee's medical records show Lewis prescribed "highly addictive and abused controlled substances such as Norco and Xanax for patient ... knowing patient ... was abusing controlled substances, and forging respondent's prescriptions," according to the charges.

The other controlled substances prescribed for this patient included Valium, Oxycontin, Vicodin, Percocet, Opana ER and Demerol, according to the petition to suspend Lewis's license.

According to the professional regulatory department's investigation report, Lewis had "issued or authorized various prescriptions for highly addictive and abused controlled substances for individuals who were not his patients."

A St. Charles woman reported to police that she was sexually assaulted by Lewis at his house, according to the complaint. Lewis' DNA was matched to DNA taken from anal swabs from the St. Charles woman as part of a rape kit, according to the complaint.

On June 9, the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services issued a lab report showing that the semen identified in the anal swabs matched Lewis's DNA profile, according to the charges. Lewis denied having a sexual relationship with the woman in an interview with the regulatory department's investigator, according to the charges.

The woman was dating the son of Lewis' girlfriend when she consulted him about a stomach problem, according to the complaint. While at his house for a party in November 2012, she drank two glasses of wine and a glass of whiskey and woke up in one of Lewis' girlfriend's children's rooms wearing only a tank top and sweater and naked from the waist down, according to the investigator's report.

Lewis was lying shirtless next to her and asked her not to tell his girlfriend what happened, according to the complaint. He offered her a Xanax pill, and she fell back asleep and woke up the next morning with pain in her anal area, according to the complaint. She went to Centegra Hospital in Woodstock complaining of a possible sexual assault, rectal pain and bleeding, the complaint states.

Another patient contacted the Aurora Police in June 2012 regarding inappropriate text messages from Lewis, according to the complaint. She was being treated for depression and anxiety and Lewis began exchanging text messages with her that contained "sexually inappropriate and/or unprofessional messages." These included: "Oh, I forgot Your (sic) on the bad girl list. If you miss your appointment, you'll have to bribe me."

Later, he apologized in a text message and offered to help her find another doctor, according to the investigator's report.

Lewis' office recently sought news coverage from the Kane County Chronicle regarding a planned expansion of its services, according to a spokeswoman for the office.